While attending the Wisconsin Energy Action Fair in Mauston over the weekend, experienced transmission opponents from across the country gathered to compare notes, share experiences and tactics, and discuss strategy and national energy policy. Online friendships and alliances were cemented together in person.

Know what happens when you put a bunch of transmission opponents in a room together? It's the all-transmission-all-the-time gab fest, where we're all allowed to indulge in thought-provoking and laughter-inducing conversations about our favorite subject that bores most of the other people we know: transmission!

I suppose this could be considered the first of many national transmission opposition conventions, however, I'm not going to put my "The Importance of Strategic Planning in Grassroots Opposition" PowerPoint, or any summaries of any other speaker presentations, online. That's what transmission owners do. We're smarter! If you weren't there, you missed out!

Many thanks to Rob, Jane, and all the friendly folks at SOUL for being such gracious hosts and making the weekend worth the trip! Looking forward to the next event!

Thank you Keryn, Patience, Mary, Scott and the other organizational leaders who made the Fair a great experience: Program: http://tinyurl.com/c25haa7

If this list of 68 North American organizations is an indicator, http://retasite.wordpress.com/links/ the political force for more affordable, more environmentally effective, more economically beneficial energy solutions awaits. Investments in accelerated efficiency and local power are roundly preferred by ratepayers for cost, reliability and environmental performance.

The motive? Regional high capacity transmission expansion is poised to dwarf all other energy investments for the next 40 years and shamelessly extend the life of coal and fossil fuel generation.

We can sit on our hands and sulk or have some fun everyday working and knowing that a better energy future will be ours.

SOUL of Wisconsin would be honored to create an sign-up/contact list for world organizations to sign on and begin planning the conference.

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Scott Thorsen

5/1/2013 03:29:57 pm

I know that cow! I think her first name is "Cash"

Thanks for all you're help everyone in West Virginia. Big Energy has Houston as their capitol. Big Wind claims Chicago. Perhaps ratepayer advocates have West Virginia as their capitol. There seems to be an unusual amount of help from out there.

I didn't believe solar could be a solution to anything. Then I read Bill's commentary at the Calhoun Powerline and I started to think about it.

After Wisconsin last weekend, I'm starting to get excited about it. I once read Michael Skelly (Big Dog and "clean" Line Energy) first job was selling small generation in third world Central American countries. Kind of ironic small generation will be the downfall of big transmission and the last dinosaur entering the transmission game.

Driving up there, it surprised me just how many new monopole powerlines there are along the interstate. I think there were 6 monopole lines, 3 new substations, and only 3 old lattice tower lines.

I've heard Wisconsin allegedly "needs" a lot more new transmission, but after seeing all those new lines, it makes me wonder if transmission has become nothing more than a cash cow for the companies.

There is no money in energy generation. Enron kinda screwed up energy trading for now. The only guaranteed income generator is now transmission and the definition of "need" is becoming broader and looser.

We are entering a world where ratepayers are being told we "need" transmission from Iowa to Illinois with one way HVDC powerlines. Then we are being told we "need" another HVDC powerline from central Illinois to Wisconsin because they don't have enough "clean" energy. This is absurd!

In spite of what people like Jimmy Glotfelty and Goliath "Clean" Line Energy might say. We don't need any of this!

Seriously, the biggest thing I learned last weekend is how economical solar is becoming for consumers. We have approached and perhaps began to cross the threshold where solar is becoming economical for farms, especially swine and dairy where energy is consumed and there is room for roof solar panels.

Yes, America is approaching the point where we can expand our economy without the need for additional energy transmission and large scale generation from Goliath Coal or Goliath Wind.

No one would have guessed 20 years ago that Kodak and traditional camera film would be irrelevant.

No one would have guessed 15 years ago that consumers would give up their land line telephones.

No one would have guessed 10 years ago digital cameras would be irrelevant and everyone would use their phones to take pictures.

5 years ago President Obama's campaign slogan was "we can't drill our way out of this"

Today America is on the edge of making new transmission and wind energy irrelevant. After 20 years of governmental picking a "winner" and help to make wind energy economical through subsidies, America is also about to see wind energy go the way of the dinosaur.

It's going to be fun to watch these Goliath Energy Companies who have claimed wind to be the next salvation to energy independence only lose to consumers as they chose solar.

Best of all, consumers are going to chose to have solar in their back yards!

They say NIMBY. I say Goliath Coal Energy, Goliath Wind Energy and Goliath Transmission are dinosaurs and many of these slow moving giants don't even know it yet.

Goodnight.

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Patience

5/4/2013 03:30:14 am

Scott, Rob, Jeanette, and Jane, Steve, Bev, Carol, and dozens of our new friends - it was truly a delight to meet you f2f and be able to talk in depth on the issue that has come to consume us.

(As an aside, my husband called while Jane was driving Keryn and me to dinner on Friday, and he fussed a little that I hadn't called to let him know that we had arrived. I told him that we were talking ... TRANSMISSION! He sighed and said he understood. He's learned that when we're able to just dive into the topic, K&I lose track of time...)

And Scott, you're right about the cow named Cash. Utilities see transmission as a PROFIT CENTER, that will help their bottom lines while generation and sales to ratepayers are shrinking. They don't seem to realize that as their ratepayer base contracts, that alone mitigates the "need" for transmission.

A peaceful revolution in power generation and distribution is coming, and they are being shut out of it.

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About the Author

Keryn Newman blogs here at StopPATH WV about energy issues, transmission policy, misguided regulation, our greedy energy companies and their corporate spin.In 2008, AEP & Allegheny Energy's PATH joint venture used their transmission line routing etch-a-sketch to draw a 765kV line across the street from her house. Oooops! And the rest is history.

AboutStopPATH Blog

StopPATH Blog began as a forum for information and opinion about the PATH transmission project. The PATH project was abandoned in 2012, however, this blog was not.

StopPATH Blog continues to bring you energy policy news and opinion from a consumer's point of view. If it's sometimes snarky and oftentimes irreverent, just remember that the truth isn't pretty. People come here because they want the truth, instead of the usual dreadful lies this industry continues to tell itself. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.